Friction car stop



Aug. 22, 1939.

E. W. BREYLEY. I

FRICTION CAR STOP Filed Dec. 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l I4 I I 2 6 I 4 a /5 l0 L |7 5" a T la i la Fig.1 v

A T h T Q @a Jfrgz (Q? T l8 INVENTOR. EDWARD W. BREYLEY HIS ATTORNEY.

-22,1939. E. w. BREYLEY 2,170,008

FRICTION CAR STOP Filed Dc. 28, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 3 IB/ T g 9 ,m as I I a 222% INVENT OR. EDWARD W. BREYLEY BY MM,

HIS ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates to friction car stops for railway cars and particularly to improvements in friction railway car stops of the general character described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,544,369, issued to Rupert Breyley on June Friction car stops of the type heretofore used usually comprise a pair of shoes, one shoe being slidably mounted on each rail of the railway and the shoes being connected together in alignment with each other transversely of the railway. Each shoe generally comprises an entrant block and a receiving block, the blocks being spaced apart from each other longitudinally of the rail so as to expose between their adjacent ends a portion of the rail of suflicient length to support the wheel of a railway car directly on the rail and out of contact with both blocks concurrently. The upper surface of the entrant block, is inclined gradually upwardly from the rail ball from front to rear part way of its length in the form of a forward or entrant surface and then downwardly abruptly to the upper surface of the rail ball for the remainder of its length in the form of a return surface. Thus the car wheel may roll up the forward or entrant surface of the entrant block readily when the car enters the shoe. Upon return of the car in the opposite direction, the car wheel may engage the abruptly inclined return surface and skid the shoe along the rail until the shoe engages a suitable stop, whereupon the car wheel may roll up the return surface and out of the shoe.

The receiving block of the shoe has an upper surface which, at its forward end, is substantially flush with the upper surface of the rail ball, and which curves upwardly rearwardly in the form of an abutment shaped to receive and snugly a'ccommodate a wheel of the car. Usually whenthe leading wheel of the car is accommodated on the receiving block, the trailing wheel of the same car truck rests on and in advance of the entrant block. When the leading wheel of the moving car rolls onto the receiving block, the weight of the car is applied to the shoe and the shoe, due to the superposed weight of the car, slides along the rail under sufficient pressure to oppose forward movement of the car and to bring the car to a gradual stop. The space between the blocks 50 permits the wheel of the car to roll directly on the rail ball when the car is returned in an opposite direction so that the shoe is freed from the weight of the car and may be slid by the wheel readily and without appreciable frictional resistance to its starting position. At the starting position of the shoe, a suitable stop block is fastened on the rail so as to arrest return movement of the shoe at the desired starting position. Upon engagement of the shoe with the stop block, the car wheel rolls up the abruptly inclined return face of the entrant block and thus passes out of the shoe.

Prior to the friction car stop of my invention, each shoe was cast into a single casting with resultant disadvantages, one of which is that breakage or excessive wear of any part of the shoe necessitates replacement of the entire shoe. Furthermore, these prior cast shoes have to be installed on the rail from the end of the rail, thus requiring removal of the rail for installation and thus being expensive and difficult to install initially and to remove and repair.

An equally serious objection to prior shoes is that, in icy weather, the shoe tends to skid along in front of the leading car wheel when the car wheel strikes the entrant or forward face of the entrant block so that the car wheel does not enter the shoe. When this condition arises, the shoe is free from the superposed weight of the car and slides freely along the rail until it strikes its final abutment whereupon the car rolls over the entrant block and into the receiving block almost instantaneously and thus subjects the bumper post or final abutment of the shoe to an instantaneous application of the full inertia force of the rapidly travelling ear.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a friction car stop of the general character described with a latching mechanism which utilizes the weight of the car to latch the shoe positively in its starting position preparatory to and. during entrance of the railway car wheel into operating position with respect to the shoe.

Another object is to provide a car stop with a 40 latch which releases automatically after the 'car has moved into operating position within the Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification wherein reference is made to the drawings in Which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a railroad rail and an associated friction car stop embodying the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the car stop and rail illustrated in Fig. 1 and showing the stop at the instant of release.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the rail and stop showing the relative position of the operating parts of the stop when it is released and in frictional engagement with the rail;

Fig. 4 is a'view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, showing the movement of the latching mechanism upon the return of the shoe toward starting position;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and '7 are sectional views taken on planes indicated by the lines 6-6 and 1'! respectively in Fig. 4.

For the purposes of illustration only one shoe and the associated rail will be described, it being understood that a corresponding shoe is provided on the other rail and the two shoes are rigidly connected together by suitable transverse tie rods.

Referring first to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a friction car stop shoe comprising an entrant block I and a receiving block 2, both of which rest upon the upper surface of the rail ball 3. The adjacent ends of the blocks are spaced apart from each other longitudinally of the rail to expose therebetween a portion of the upper surface of the rail ball 3. The upper surface of the entrant block I is in the form of a forward or entrant surface 4 which is inclined gradually upwardly from the forward end of the block and a rearwardly abruptly downwardly inclined return surface 5. The receiving lock 2 has a wheel receiving surface 6 which, at the forward end of the block is substantially at the level of the top surface of the rail ball and which curves upwardly rearwardly so as to permit the car wheel to roll thereonto and up off of the rail readily, and thus superpose weight of the car on the block 2.

The blocks l and 2 are rolled steel of rectangular cross section and are substantially the same width as the rail ball. The blocks of each shoe are secured together by a rigid tie bar 8. The tie bar 8 comprises an elongated rolled steel bar of angular cross section having its flange portion 9 arranged to engage beneath the ball of the rail with slight operating clearance. Each tie bar 8 is provided at its ends with widened end portions l0 and H which extend above the upper surface of the rail ball when the flanges 9 are engaged beneath the ball of the rail. The web portion of the tie bar between the widened end portions is disposed alongside the rail ball with its upper surface slightly below the upper surface of the rail ball.

The portions IB and, H are formed with apertures aligned with suitable holes through the blocks and 2 respectively so that bolts, such as indicated at 12, may be passed through the wide portions II and H and through the associated shoe blocks for clamping the tie bar 8 into firm face to face juxtaposition with the lateral faces of the blocks. The tie portions [0 and Il may be slightly thickened if desired so that the remainder of the bar 8 does not engage the lateral face of the rail ball. An identical tie bar may be similarly disposed at the opposite faces of the blocks l and 2 and held by the bolts l2. For economy, however, short lengths of angle bars, such as indicated at l3 in Fig. 7, may be used, these angle bars being substantially coextensive with the widened end portions [0 and II of the tie bar 8. It is to be noted that all the connections between the blocks of the shoe and the tie bars 6 or angle bars K3 are above the level of the upper surface of the rail ball so as to aiford ready means of attachment and detachment. The opposite ends of each tie bar 8 are preferably identical so that right and left hand tie bars are unnecessary. It is apparent that the tie bars can be disconnected completely from the blocks, and themselves and the blocks removed and replaced laterally of the rail and even while a car wheel is resting on the rail between the blocks, and the tie bars 8 and angle bars 13 may be replaced even while a car wheel is on one of the blocks.

Since it is sometimes desirable that the shoe slide a distance greater than the length of a single rail length, the flanges 9 terminate at their lower faces very slightly below the level of the under surface of the rail ball so that they may clear the usual rail tie plates T. At most, if the flanges are apt to strike the tie plates, only a very small upper marginal portion of the tie plate need be removed to afford passage of the flanges thereby along the'rail.

As heretofore mentioned, two shoes are provided one on each rail and, in general, the shoes are connected together by suitable transverse connections. The connection between the shoes of the present invention comprises tie rods, indicated at M in Fig. 1, which extend through the shoes and may be readily detached while the shoes are in place on the rail. Shims may be interposed between the blocks l and 2 and the attached parts for spacing the attached parts so that they clamp onto the rail with proper operating clearance to assure free sliding movement of the shoe along the rail.

In order toprevent the shoes from skidding along in front of the wheel and thus preventing entrance of the car wheel into the shoe and the resultant superimposing of the weight of the car on the shoe, a latching mechanism is provided. The latching mechanism is constructed and arranged so as to be constrained by the wheel of the car, as the wheel approaches the shoe, to an operating position in which the mechanism will latch the shoe against movement beyond a predetermined starting position in the direction of travel of the car if the car wheel has not already rolled up onto the leading end of the entrant block I. As is well known in the railroad art, car wheels commonly employed are of greater width than the width of the rail ball and overhang the rail ball a material distance at the outside of the track. Advantage is taken of this overhanging relation of the wheel for latching the shoe preparatory to and during entrance of the wheel thereinto.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the entrant block I is provided with a transverse bore near its forward end which receives a bolt I5 by which a movable latch element I6 is pivotally secured to the block for vertical swinging movement. The latch element 15 comprises a heavy piece of rolled strap metal which is elongated and extends forwardly of its pivotal connection beyond the forward end of the entrant block I. The latch element It has an upper wheel engaging surface l'! which, in the normal latching position of the latch, is inclined upwardly from front to rear and is substantially parallel toand on the level of or slightly below the entrant surface 4 of the entrant block I along the coextensive portions of their length.

The latch element I5 is disposed at the outer face of the block I so as to rock alongside the outer lateral face of the block and the outer lateral face of the rail ball. At its forward end on its under face, the latch element I6 has a rearwardly, downwardly inclined cam surface I8 which extends part way of the length of the latch element, and a contiguous upwardly, rearwardly inclined concave latching surface I9 which extends rearwardly from the rear end of the surface I8.

The rear of the latch element It is in the form of a lug 20 which is used to limit the rock ing movement of the latch element. Connected on the outer face of the portion IQ of the tie bar 8 is a meta1 strap 2| having a frame portion 22 which extends outwardly therefrom and accommodates the lug 20 between its upper and lower ends; Thus the upper end of the frame limits the depression of the forward end of the latch element I6 and prevents it from dragging on the railway ties and the like, while the lower end of the frame limits the distance at which the forward end of the latch element may be lifted.

Mounted on the rail and preferably at one of the rail joints is a cooperating stationary latch element in the form of a stop block 23. The upwardly facing edge of the block 23 is preferably curvilinear and convex upwardly and the block 23 is positioned so that its convex edge is disposed in the path of the latch element I6. The stop block 23 is located longitudinally of the rail at the position at which it is desired that the car wheel start its entry onto the shoe. At this same location, the tie plate T of the rail preferably extends upwardly entirely to the under surface of the ball of the rail so as to engage the flanges 9 when the shoe is moved in the return direction and thus arrest return of the shoe at the initial starting position.- The shoe is normally positioned in a starting position illustrated in Fig. l, and the tie plate adjacent the stop block is preferably of such length that when the latch surface I9 is engaged with the stop block 23, the ends of the flanges 9 engage the associated tie plates.

Starting with a wheel positioned as illustrated by the extreme right dot and dash line in Fig. 1. as the car wheel approaches the block I, the laterally overhanging portion of the wheel first passes into overhanging relation to the upper surface I? of the latch element I6, and constrains the latch element I6 to a position in which it will effect latching engagement with the block 23 preparatory to and during initial engagement of the car wheel and entrant block I. The surface I"! is so positioned that the latch element is held by the car wheel in this manner until the car wheel has moved a material distance up on to the surface 4 of the block I. After the wheel has rolled onto the block I, the shoe will be held frictionally sufficiently firmly to cause the wheel to continue rolling up the surface to the wheel position between the blocks I and 2, indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 1. Next the wheel passes onto the receiving block 2, as indicated by the dot and dash line at the extreme left in Fig. 1. If desired, the blocks I and 2 may be positioned longitudinally of the rail so that the second wheel of the car will be in engagement with the latch at the instant that the leading wheel is entering the receiving block 2 and until it has passed fully onto the receiving block. Thus the shoe is positively locked in position through the medium of the car wheel itself until the car is in proper cooperative relation to the shoe.

After the car wheel, or wheels, as the case may be, has passed into the proper relation with respect to the shoe, no wheel is in contact with the latch element I6 and, thereupon, due to the shape of the surface I9 and the cooperating surface of the block 23, the latch lifts readily out of engagement with the block 23 as the shoe skids along the rail.

Upon return movement of the railway car, the wheel strikes the surface 5 of the block I and, due to the abrupt inclination of the surface 5, it skids the shoe along in the return direction. When the surface I8 of the latch strikes the stop block 23, the latch element I6 is raised thereby and passes the block 23. When the latch has fully passed the block 23 the flange 9 of the tie bar 8 engages the tie plate T and thus pre vents further movement of the shoe in the return direction. Thereupon the wheel of the car rides up over the surface 5 and out of the shoe.

The frame 22 and lug 20 are so related that the latch cannot drop down and catch on other fastenings of the railway and cannot bounce off of the stop block 23 or other obstruction with such force as to swing entirely around its pivot and dispose the end IB to the rear of the block I.

It is apparent from the foregoing description that a simple and durable shoe and latch mechanism is provided in which all connections between the parts are above the rail ball so that each part, including the latch element I6, may be readily detached and removed laterally of the rail for repair and replacement and that positive cooperation of the shoe with the railway car in the intended manner is assured. Further, since all transverse rail tie rods adjacent bumper posts and the like are close to the vertical mid portions of the rail, all parts of the present shoes clear such elements, whereas the older shoes generally could not clear such tie elements unless the post was manufactured specifically for the shoe.

I claim:

1. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a wheel receiving block, an entrant block, said blocks being positioned on the upper surface of the rail ball and spaced longitudinally of the rail from each other, said shoe including a tie member lying along one side of the rail ball and having end portions extending above the rail ball and alongside the blocks, respectively, and having a flange portion extending beneath the rail ball, said shoe including clamping means at the opposite side of the rail ball from the member and having flanged portions extending beneath the ball and having portions extending above said upper surface of the rail ball and disposed alongside of the opposite faces of the blocks from the end portion of the tie member, said flanged portions, tie member and blocks embracing the rail ball for securing the blocks thereto for sliding lengthwise of the rail, and means detachably connecting the end portions of the member, the associated clamping means, and associated block together above the level of the upper surface of the rail ball for permitting lateral assembly and disassembly of the parts from each other while the blocks, clamping means and tie member remain in fixed position longitudinally of the rail relative to the rail and to each other, and said shoe terminating at its lower limit in closely spaced relation below the level of the under surface of the rail ball.

2. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a wheel receiving block and an entrant block, said blocks being formed of rolled metal and positioned on the upper surface of the rail ball, a rolled metal tie member lying along one side of the rail ball and having end portions extending above said upper surface of the ball and alongside the blocks, respectively, and having a flange portion extending beneath the rail ball, clamping means at the opposite side of the rail ball from the member and having flange portions extending beneath the rail ball and portions extending above said upper face of the ball and disposed alongside the opposite faces of the blocks from the end portions of the tie member and in alignment with the end portions of the tie member, respectively, means detachably connecting together each end portion of the tie member, the adjacent clamping means, and the adjacent block, above the level of the upper surface of the rail ball for permitting lateral assembly and disassembly of the parts from each other while the blocks, clamping means and tie member remain in fixed position longitudinally of the rail relative to the rail and to each other.

3. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a rolled steel wheel receiving block and a rolled steel return block, said blocks being of substantially the same width as the rail ball and positioned on the upper surface of the rail ball and spaced from each other longitudinally thereof, a rolled steel tie member of angular cross section lying alongside the rail ball and having its flange portion engaged with the under surface of the rail ball and having end portions extending upwardly above the upper surface of the rail ball and lying alongside the lateral faces of the blocks, respectively, additional means detachably connected to the blocks above the level of the upper surface of the ball at the side opposite from the tie member and having portions extending beneath the rail ball, and means disposed above the level of the rail ball and detachably connecting the tie member to the blocks thereabove, whereby the blocks, tie member and said additional means may be disassembled while they remain in fixed position longitudinally of the rail relative to the rail and to each other.

4. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a wheel receiving block, a return block, said blocks being positioned on the upper surface of a rail ball and spaced from each other along the rail, a rigid tie member lying alongside the rail ball, means on the member extending beneath and engaging the under surface of the ball, said member having end portions detachably connected to the blocks respectively above the upper level of the ball surface for securing the blocks in fixed relation to each other, additional means detachably connected to the blocks above the upper level of the ball and extending beneath the rail ball at the side opposite from the member and cooperating with the member to connect the blocks to the rail for sliding movement along the rail, said member and additional means being removable laterally of the rail while the member and said additional means remain in fixed position longitudinally of the rail relative to the rail and. to each other, and said member having the portion between the adjacent ends of the blocks disposed below the level of the ball surface.

5. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a wheel receiving block, a return block, said blocks being positioned on the upper surface of the ball of a rail, a rigid tie member detachably connected at its ends to the blocks, respectively, above the level of said surface for lateral attachment and detachment while the shoe remains in fixed position longitudinally of the rail, said member securing the blocks for movement together along the rail, means on the member extending beneath one side of the rail ball and terminating at the lower surface above the vertical mid-portion of the rail, and means carried by the shoes and extending beneath the rail ball at the opposite side and terminating at their lower surface above the vertical mid-portion of the rail and cooperating with the first mentioned means for slidably connecting the shoe to the rail, and said blocks and tie member being of rolled metal.

6. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe comprising a wheel receiving block, a return block, said blocks being positioned on the upper surface of the ball of a rail, a rigid tie member detachably connected at its ends to the blocks, respectively, above the level of said surface for lateral attachment and detachment while the blocks and tie member remain in fixed position longitudinally of the rail relative to the rail and to each other and securing the blocks for movement together along the rail, means on the member extending beneath one side of the rail ball, means carried by the shoe and having flange portions extending beneath the rail ball at the opposite side and cooperating with the first mentioned means for slidably connecting the shoe to the rail, said first mentioned means comprising an inturned reinforcing flange portion on the tie member substantially coextensive lengthwise of the rail with the member, and all of said flange portions terminating at their lower limits above the vertical mid-portion of the rail.

7. The combination with a friction car shoe of the character described, and an associated rail along which the shoe slides, of a normally inoperative latching means rendered operative by a car wheel for holding the shoe in a predetermined starting position until partial passage of the car wheel into operative relation with respect to he stop, and thereafter unconstrained by the car wheel.

8. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe including an entrant block and mounted for sliding movement along the upper surface of the rail, said entrant block having a forwardly inclined entrant surface, movable latch means carried by the shoe, a cooperating stationary latch element mounted on the rail with which the shoe is associated and positioned to lie in the path of travel of the movable latch means resulting from movement of the shoe along the rail past a predetermined starting position, said movable la-tch means being arranged normally to engage said stationary latch element without effecting latching relation therewith, and said movable latch means being engageable by a wheel of a railway car when the car moves toward the shoe and constrained thereby during said engagement to a position for effecting latching engagement with the stationary latch element preparatory to and during initial engagement of the car wheel and said entrant block.

9. In a friction car stop and rail combination,

a shoe including an entrant block and awheel receiving block, 'said blocks being disposed on the upper surface of the rail ball, a tie member extending along the lateral faces of the blocks and having a portion engaging beneath the rail ball, means for detachably securing the member to the blocks above the level of the rail, a movable latch element pivotally connected to one of the blocks for swinging in a vertical plane alongside of the rail, a cooperating latch element connected to the rail, and said pivotal connection being above the level of the rail ball.

10. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe mounted for sliding movement along the rail and having a wheel engaging block disposed on the upper surface of the rail, cooperating latch means carried by the shoe and rail,

- respectively, and engaging with each other at one position of movement of the shoe along the rail, said latch means being normally inoperative for stopping the shoe when in engagement, the latch means carried by the shoe being operated by a wheel of a car operating on the rail both preparatory to and during initial operative engagement of the wheel and shoe for rendering the latch means operative to arrest movement of the shoe longitudinally of the rail when the latch means are engaged, the latch means of the shoe becoming operatively disassociated from the car wheel and latch means on the rail when the car wheel is moved onto the shoe a predetermined distance.

11. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a stop mounted for sliding movement along the rail and having a block disposed on the upper surface of the rail and arranged to permit rolling of a car wheel onto its upper surface, the forward portion of said block terminating at one lateral face substantially at the corresponding lateral face of the rail ball whereby a railway car wheel operating on the rail overhangs said portiOn of the block, a latch element mounted on the block at said face and movable upwardly and downwardly alongside said face of the block, a latch element fixed with respect to the rail and disposed in the path along which said movable latch element is moved with the block for engagement with the movable latch element as the shoe moves along the rail, said movable latch element normally being operated to lift upon engagement with the stationary latch element for permitting relative passage of the latch elements, and having a portion positioned to be engaged by the overhanging portion of the car wheel for constraining upward movement of the movable latch element during initial passage of the car wheel onto the block.

12. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe movable longitudinally of the rail, a movable latch element mounted on the shoe for movement vertically and lying alongside the rail, a stop block fixed longitudinally of the rail and disposed in position to be engaged by said movable latch element when the shoe moves past a predetermined position along the rail, said latch element and stop block being arranged to cause upward movement of the latch element free from the stop block upon engagement of the latch element and stop block for permitting passage of the latch element past the stop block, said movable latch element having a portion engageable by a wheel of a car preparatory to and during initial engagement of the wheel and shoe for constraining said latch element from being lifted by the stop block, whereby the shoe is latched in position along the rail preparatory to and during said initial engagement of the wheel and shoe, and said portion of the latch element being released by the wheel after suflicient weight of the car is imposed upon the shoe and thereby permitting release of the latch element and stop block and sliding movement of the shoe along the rail in the direction of travel of the car.

13. In a friction car stop and rail combination, a shoe movable longitudinally of the rail, a latch element mounted on the shoe for movement vertically and lying alongside the rail, a stop block fixed longitudinally of the rail and disposed to be engaged by said latch element when the shoe moves past a predetermined position along the rail, said latch element and stop block being arranged to cause upward movement of the latch element free from latching relation to the block upon engagement of the latch element and stop block, thereby affording passage of the latch element past the stop block, said movable latch element having a portion engageable by a wheel of a car preparatory to and during initial engagement of the wheel andshoe for constraining said latch element from being lifted by the stop block, whereby the shoe is latched in position on the rail preparatory to and during initial engagement of the wheel and shoe, said portion of the latch element being released by the wheel after sufficient weight of the car is imposed upon the shoe and thereby permitting release of the latch element and stop block and sliding movement of the shoe along the rail in the direction of travel of the car, and said latch element having means engageable with the stop block for preventing latching engagement of the latch element and stop block when the shoe is moved therepast in the opposite direction.

14. In a friction car stop including a shoe movable along the upper surface of the rail and having a block engageable by a wheel of a car for transferring the weight of the car onto the shoe, latch means comprising cooperating latch elements carried by the rail and shoe respectively and engageable with each other, said elements normally being operative to disengage and pass each other upon movement of the shoe in the car stopping direction, said latch means being operatively engageable by the car wheel preparatory to and during initial engagement of the wheel and shoe for holding the latch means in a position to cause latching relation between the latch elements, and to release the latch elements for rendering them inoperative with respect to each other after the car wheel and shoe are in proper operative relation with respect to each other.

EDWARD W. BREYLEY. 

